[gweekly] PT1 Weekly Project Gutenberg Newsletter
Michael Hart
hart at pglaf.org
Wed Nov 16 09:46:20 PST 2005
Weekly_November_16.txt
The Project Gutenberg Weekly Newsletter For Wednesday, November 16, 2005 PT1
******eBooks Readable By Both Humans And Computers Since July 4, 1971*******
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
[Search for "*eBook" or "*Intro". . .to jump to that section, etc.]
*eBook Milestones
*Introduction
*Hot Requests, New Sites and Announcements
*Continuing Requests and Announcements
*Progress Report
*Distributed Proofreaders Collection Report
*Project Gutenberg Consortia Center Report
*Permanent Requests For Assistance:
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*Have We Given Away A Trillion Yet?
*Flashback
*Weekly eBook update:
This is now in PT2 of the Weekly Newsletter
Also collected in the Monthly Newsletter
Corrections in separate section
41 New Public Domain eBooks Under US Copyright
*Headline News from Edupage, etc.
*Information About the Project Gutenberg Mailing Lists
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*eBook Milestones*
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We Are ~88% of the Way to 20,000!!!
14,485 New eBooks Since The Start Of 2001
That's ~250 eBooks per Month for ~56 Months
We Have Produced 2571 eBooks in 2005!!!
2,473 to go to 20,000!!!
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Since October, 2000 [Details in PT1B]
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41 This Week
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It took ~2.00 years from Oct. 2003 to Oct. 2005 from 10,000 to 17,400
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***Introduction
[The Newsletter is now being sent in two sections, so you can directly
go to the portions you find most interesting: 1. Founder's Comments,
News, Notes & Queries, and 2. Weekly eBook Update Listing. Note bene
that PT1 is now being sent as PT1A and PT1B.
[Since we are between Newsletter editors, these 2 parts may undergo a
few changes while we are finding a new Newsletter editor. Email us:
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This is Michael Hart's "Founder's Comments" section of the Newsletter
*Headline News from Edupage
[PG Editor's Comments In Brackets]
UN MEETING TO ADDRESS CONTROL OF INTERNET
The United Nations (UN) is hosting an international conference this
week in Tunisia to address concerns about U.S. control of the Internet.
The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) was set
up in 1998 to oversee the Domain Name System, which reconciles Web
addresses and directs Internet traffic to proper destinations. Despite
an understanding that ICANN would become independent of any national
ties, the Bush administration this year rejected such a move, and the
organization still operates under the authority of the U.S. Department
of Commerce. This situation has left many other countries complaining
that the United States holds the power over a global resource, and nine
different proposals for putting ICANN under the guidance of an
international body will be addressed at the meeting in Tunisia, which
will host as many as 15,000 delegates. Some individuals who were part
of the work that led to the Internet have said that concerns over ICANN
are misguided. Leonard Kleinrock, computer scientist at UCLA, said,
"Everyone seems to think that the D.N.S. system is a big deal, but
it's not the heartbeat of the Internet." Robert Kahn, one of the
developers behind TCP/IP, said of ICANN, "There is nothing in there to
control, and there are huge issues that the governments of the world
really do need to work on."
New York Times, 14 November 2005 (registration req'd)
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/14/business/14register.html
[What is NOT mentioned is that this meeting addressed using the
availability of information via the Internet to combat poverty,
and that, in fact, this was a major, if not THE major, topic.
The official name of the conference is:
The World Summit on the Information Society
"The hurdle here is more political than financial. The costs of
connectivity, computers and mobile telephones can be brought down,"
said United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan.]
GOOGLE FLOATS IDEA OF RENTING BOOKS
Google has reportedly proposed a plan to rent books online. An unnamed
publisher said that Google suggested the idea of letting consumers pay
a fee, equal to 10 percent of the price of a printed copy of the book,
to have online access to the text for one week. Rented books would not
be downloadable or printable, according to the publisher, which said
that although the fee Google suggested is too low, the notion of
renting texts might represent a viable new model for content
distribution. A spokesperson from Google said that although "Google
Print is exploring new access models to help authors and publishers
sell more books online," the company at this time has nothing to
announce. Other publishers said they were curious about a rental
program for books and are interested in hearing more details, as long
as the program ensures that copyright holders are compensated. David
Steinberger, chief executive of Perseus Books, also noted that for a
rental program to be successful, it would have to augment physical book
sales, not limit them.
Wall Street Journal, 14 November 2005 (sub. req'd)
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB113192806168096032.html
SNOCAP ADDS WARNER MUSIC TO QUIVER
Online music service Snocap has reached an agreement with Warner Music
Group, giving Snocap deals with all four major record labels as well as
a number of smaller, independent labels. The company already had struck
deals with Sony BMG, Universal Music, and EMI Group. Snocap was founded
by Shawn Fanning, creator of the original Napster. The company uses
"fingerprinting" technology to label electronic music, which gives
consumers online access to music while giving record labels the ability
to control how files are used. Copyright owners can register songs with
Snocap and then use the company's management system to set properties
for how each track can be used. According to the company, consumers who
use Snocap can be assured of having only legal downloads of music,
without the risk of litigation for illegal file trading and without the
risk of downloading viruses or other malware that is sometimes included
in music on P2P services.
CNET, 13 November 2005
http://news.com.com/2100-1027_3-5949869.html
CONGRESS EXAMINES CONTROVERSIAL PORTIONS OF PATRIOT ACT
Members of a Congressional committee this week took up discussions of
the USA PATRIOT Act, including two highly controversial sections of the
law. Several provisions of the law are scheduled to expire this year,
and the committee is charged with reconciling House and Senate
proposals to extend those provisions. Expected to be the focus of the
discussions are Sections 215 and 505, which greatly expand federal
authority to obtain information such as phone and library records on
individuals and which prevent those under investigation from revealing,
even to their attorneys, that they are under investigation. Advocates
for civil liberties have been pressing federal officials for details on
how these key sections of the law have been applied, including a letter
recently sent by five U.S. Senators to Attorney General Alberto
Gonzales, demanding data on how many so-called national security
letters have been issued since the PATRIOT Act was enacted. Although
federal officials have revealed few specifics, supporters of the
legislation argue that "vigorous oversight by congressional committees
has uncovered no instances of abuse," according to Sen. Pat Roberts
(R-Kans.). Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.) noted, "The very act of
surveilling citizens who aren't even suspected of wrongdoing is an
abuse in itself."
Chronicle of Higher Education, 11 November 2005 (sub. req'd)
http://chronicle.com/daily/2005/11/2005111101t.htm
FEDS PUSH FOR STRICTER COPYRIGHT PROTECTIONS
According to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, the Justice Department
recently submitted a package of legislative proposals to Congress that
would broaden the scope of laws to protect copyright and would
strengthen law enforcement powers to investigate such crimes. Among the
proposals are recommendations to allow enforcement of copyrights,
regardless of whether they are registered; to hold those found guilty
of infringement liable for compensation to the victims; and to allow
the seizure and destruction of counterfeit goods, equipment used to
make such goods, and property acquired with the profits from such
goods. The proposals would also make it a crime to "attempt to infringe
copyright." Groups such as the Business Software Alliance and the
Recording Industry Association of America welcomed the proposed changes
to copyright law, while those concerned about fair use rights expressed
reservations. An organization called Public Knowledge said in a statement
that it is "concerned that the Justice Department's proposal attempts
to enforce copyright law in ways it has never before been enforced."
CNET, 10 November 2005
http://news.com.com/2100-1028_3-5944612.html
NEW GROUP ADDRESSES OPEN SOURCE PATENT ISSUE
A new organization hopes to eliminate one of the major obstacles to
adoption of open source technology: concern over patent and royalty
disputes over shared code. The Open Invention Network (OIN), which
includes IBM, Sony, Royal Philips Electronics, and Linux distributors
Red Hat and Novell, will acquire and freely share patents that
organizers hope will encourage broader adoption of open source tools,
particularly Linux. Any organization that agrees not to assert its
patents over those who have licenses with OIN will be permitted to use
OIN patents for free. The business model for OIN represents a new
arrangement in which patents are shared to promote the underlying Linux
technology. Industry analyst Richard Doherty said, "A lot of lawyers
are going to throw their hands up and ask, 'How do we make money from
this?'" The answer, he said, is that they might not.
ZDNet, 10 November 2005
http://news.zdnet.com/2100-3513_22-5943781.html
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***
News from other sources:
and
*HEADLINE NEWS AVOIDED BY MOST OF THE MAJOR U.S. MEDIA
*DOUBLESPEAK OF THE WEEK
"That's accurate," spoken by White House Press Secretary
Scott McClellan, now restated in the official White House
transcripts as "I don't think that's accurate," when he
responded to the following:
"Whether there's a question of legality, we know for a fact
that there was involvement. We know that Karl Rove, based on
what he and his lawyer have said, did have a conversation
about somebody who Patrick Fitzgerald said was a covert
officer of the Central Intelligence Agency. We know that
Scooter Libby also had conversations."
Since then, the audio and video recordings of this have
been analyzed by the various media, and The Congressional
Quarterly and The Federal News Service have reported that
Mr. McClellan said, "That's accurate," refusing the White
House pressures to reverse their own transcripts.
White House press office spokeswoman Dana Perino answered
inquiries about the matter by saying, "the White House
stenographer was in the room and I was in the room" and
heard McClellan say `I don't think that's accurate.'"
Source: Editor & Publisher, Nov 9, 2005
*
United States military officials at the Pentagon finally
admitted using white phosphorous as a weapon against soldiers
as opposed to its official use for lighting targets and also
providing smokescreens for other operations, after various
official denials. Lt. Col. Venable, a Pentagon spokesman
gave some details to the press, including white phosphorous
was used as an "incendiary weapon against enemy combatants."
It was also announced that the white phosphorous had been used
to drive soldiers out of their bunkers by setting fire to them
and via smoke inhalation, where they were then killed by a
variety of more conventional weapons. Many classify white
phosphorous as a chemical weapon when used against humans,
as it sticks to soldiers and will burn through to the bone,
also causing poisonous interactions with liver and kidneys.
Source: BBC News and Bahrain News Agency, quoting Radio London
Also, the Italian state 24 hours television news service
RAI24 aired a documentary alleging use of white phosphorous
in such a manner, and also in such an indiscriminate manner
as to include many civilians.
*PREDICTIONS OF THE WEEK
The whole white phosphorous issue will be ignored.
*STRANGE QUOTES OF THE WEEK
"The U.S. Embassy in Rome issued a statement criticizing the
documentary, saying any suggestion that U.S. forces used white
phosphorous or any chemical weapons against human targets was
simply wrong."
Source: Navy Times, Associated Press
*ODD STATISTICS OF THE WEEK
***
Still hoping for more statistical updates and additional entries.
"If we could shrink the earth's population to a village of precisely
100 people, with all the existing human ratios remaining the same,
it would look something like the following. There would be:
57 Asians
21 Europeans
14 from the Western Hemisphere, both North and South America
8 Africans
52 would be female
48 would be male
70 would be non-white
30 would be white
70 would be non-Christian
30 would be Christian
6 people would possess 59% of the entire world's wealth
and all 6 would be from the United States
80 would live in substandard housing
70 would be unable to read
50 would suffer from malnutrition
1 would be near death; 1 would be near birth
1 (yes, only 1) would have a college education
1 would own a computer [I think this is now much greater]
1 would be 79 years old or more.
Of those born today, the life expectancy is only 63 years,
but no country any longer issues copyrights that are sure
to expire within that 63 year period.
I would like to bring some of these figures more up to date,
as obviously if only 1% of 6 billion people owned a computer
then there would be only 60 million people in the world who
owned a computer, yet we hear that 3/4 + of the United States
households have computers, out of over 100 million households.
Thus obviously that is over 1% of the world population, just in
the United States.
I just called our local reference librarian and got the number
of US households from the 2004-5 U.S. Statistical Abstract at:
111,278,000 as per data from 2003 U.S Census Bureau reports.
If we presume the saturation level of U.S. computer households
is now around 6/7, or 86%, that is a total of 95.4 million,
and that's counting just one computer per household, and not
counting households with more than one, schools, businesses, etc.
I also found some figures that might challenge the literacy rate
given above, and would like some help researching these and other
such figures, if anyone is interested.
BTW, while I was doing this research, I came across a statistic
that said only 10% of the world's population is 60+ years old.
This means that basically 90% of the world's population would
never benefit from Social Security, even if the wealthy nations
offered it to them free of charge. Then I realized that the US
population has the same kind of age disparity, in which the rich
live so much longer than the poor, the whites live so much longer
than the non-whites. Thus Social Security is paid by all, but is
distributed more to the upper class whites, not just because they
can receive more per year, but because they will live more years
to receive Social Security. The average poor non-white may never
receive a dime of Social Security, no matter how much they pay in.
*
POEM OF THE WEEK
Mr. Postman
I'm longing for that particular letter
be it an i, an a, or an m
which would open only one door, and it would be enough
There, outside, the nose of the mountain would recognize the scent of myrrh
and frankincense
the waves of the sea would become stairs as he climbs.
I'm waiting for Mr. Postman
to knock on the door of this century
Copyright 2005 by Simona Sumanaru and Michael S. Hart
Please send comments to: simona_s75 AT yahoo.com & hart AT pobox.
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